Unit 2: Week 2 - Reader Response - Assignment 1 A serial killer could be dining, sitting, or even living next to you at this very moment. Most killers offer little to no obvious clues that will lead anyone to detect their often secretive, undercover actions. I ask myself, “How can we be so naive to these types of people?” Serial killers amongst us are often well educated, portray an All-American image, yet have a psychotic side to them. First, most serial killers are often well educated. Hannibal Lecter in the movie “Silence of the Lambs” is a psychologist. Who would think that a psychologist could be a serial killer? Certainly not me! Lecter further asserts his intelligence and education when he accepts an interview hosted by Clarice and offers his own perspective on who might be committing the recent murders. His intelligent insight eventually leads to the capture of Buffalo Bill. In the movie “Mr. Brooks,” Earl Brooks is an intelligent, successful, and wealthy businessman. Although his educational credentials are not disclosed, I am almost certain that he possesses some sort of graduate business degree. This is depicted by his extensive knowledge of his business’ operations and, most importantly, the meticulous planning of his murders. Brooks further displays his intelligence when he flies to Palo Alto to commit a murder, involving an axe, similar to the one his daughter commits. This will exonerate his daughter as investigators will determine that the killer is still at large. It takes an exceptionally bright individual to think of something of this nature. In “Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture,” Ted Bundy was a law student. Yet, he committed several murders mostly attributed to the pleasure he gained from watching others suffer. Secondly, serial...

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...The Silence of The Lambs
Clarice Starling, a student preparing for a life in the FBI, hunts a
serial killer by use of vague information given to her by an incarcerated
psychologist. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter relays information to Clarice in
exchange for information about herself. The killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill",
kidnaps large women, keeps them alive for a few days, and finally skins them.
Clarice works against time as Buffalo Bill takes his newest victim, a U.S.
Senator's daughter, and the countdown to death begins.
"The Silence of the Lambs" was chosen for the title because it is
Clarice Starling's ultimate goal for the bloodcurdling screams of the lambs in
her nightmares to cease. When she was younger, she witnessed the slaughtering
of a herd of lambs and to this day she awakens horrified some nights to escape
the nightmares that she so longs to end. She believes deep down that if she
catches Buffalo Bill herself she will sleep soundly in the silence of the lambs.
My first interpretation of Clarice was that she was very bright and
observant. She reads people very well and is quick to make an accurate
judgement, as in with Frederick Chilton, the prison warden. I believed that she
was a very strong woman and was very careful to appear that way to others.
Clarice Starling did have a large change in herself. She began the
story...

...The movie "The Silence of the Lambs" got many excelent reviews and won five film awards. These included best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay. Despite the film's great acheivement in the box office and in the awards, the film is quite frankly a gruesome horror film. This puts viewers through gripping drama. I feel that the film was well worthy of the praise it has garnered.
Despite the gruesome scenes and detailed, dramatic pictures, I feel that the film was a stunning success. It was necessary to add such drama to it, to depict the situation as if it occured in real life. The violence was not overplayed or inappropriate. With such horrific details the film would not have been effective to such a degree.
The depcition of Buffalo Bill was indeed bizarre and misogynistic, but that was one of the films stronger points. The fact that he killed these women so frequently and that they slowely revealed the details of his murders to you made the film exquisite. Infact the depiction of Buffallo Bill was so good, If they did it any other way the movie would have had an out come much less worthy of attention.
The Subject matter was a bit gruesome and hard to handle at some points. This made the film keep your attention. It drew you in, got your addrenaline pumping. You felt you could test your limitations by watching this. The fact that you didn't know what was happening next, and that everything in the movie was...

...information given to her by an incarcerated
psychologist. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter relays information to Clarice in
exchange for information about herself. The killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill",
kidnaps large women, keeps them alive for a few days, and finally skins them.
Clarice works against time as Buffalo Bill takes his newest victim.
The significance of the movie title Silence of the Lambs ties back to Clarices childhood trauma. As a child Clarice witnessed a heard of lambs being slaughtered. The event haunts her still as an adult and has reoccurring dreams of the screaming lambs. The fact that she couldn't do anything to save the lambs haunts her more than the simple fact that they were being killed. Doctor Hannibal Lector learns and reveals that Clarice has taken on the case to find the serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill" as a means to "Silence the lambs". Meaning Clarice feels that by saving Buffalo Bills victim and apprehending the killer she will no longer be haunted or have the reoccurring dreams of screaming lambs. Clarice seeks "the silence of the lambs". This is the motivation that Clarice has to take the case.
Buffalo Bill has a much more twisted sadistic motivation. Bill thinks he's a transsexual but has been rejected for sex reassignment surgery due to his felonious past. To satisfy his...

...Good vs. Evil, Detective vs. Criminal.
Everyday man is weighed down with the matter of whether to do good or to do evil. Even though society constantly persuades us to be moral, nevertheless, evil still lurks. In the movie “The Silence of the Lambs” directed by Jonathan Demme, Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Jame Gumb play the role of evil. Where there is evil, there is good therefore, Clarice Starling and Jack Crawford play the role of good. Society typically teaches us that good always defeats evil. In this movie, through the criminals, the good and evil becoming allies, and the rescue of the innocent shows how justice is restored.
The usual way of deciphering crimes is done in such a way that the protagonist finds and catches his archenemy. This movie utilizes Dr. Lecter, the serial killer, to help catch Jame Gumb. The characters behavior in this film just goes to show you how deeply complex humans can be. A surprising fact about the characters is actually that, Jack Crawford has the initials of J.C. that stands for Jesus Christ and Hannibal Lecter has initials of H.L. which when you say out loud, it in fact sounds like “hell”. Within these two interesting characters, comes in the detective figure, Clarice. Jack Crawford is taking in Clarice Starling to assist with
Mazumdar 2
the Jame Gumb case. The “Buffalo Bill” case is a very interesting and a complex serial murder investigation. That is how Starling and Lecter’s paths cross as...

...The Silence of the Lambs, a psychological thriller directed by Jonathan Demme, is a movie that has a lot to do with change. Each of the main characters in this film, in their own ways, has a desire for change. For example, Clarice Starling wants change because she wants her nightmares of the lambs to go away, Dr. Hannibal Lecter wants to be moved to a new asylum with a view, and Jame Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill, wants to be a woman. Also, this movie pays a lot of attention to being a female and still being strong. Just because Clarice is a woman does not mean she can’t do the same job as a male, matter of fact, it seems as if she does it better than a male has.
The film is about the treatment of women as objects because it was clearly obvious Hannibal Lecter had some sort of attraction to Clarice, as in when she was grabbing her case file on Buffalo Bill back, and Dr. Lecter rubbed his finger on hers. Also, Buffalo Bill looks at women as objects and that is how it is so easy for him to kill and skin them. That is the reason when Catherine’s mother made a plea on television she kept repeating her name. They figured that if she kept repeating her name he would look at her as a human being and not an object, so therefore it would be harder for him to kill her.
Clarice Starling represents an emerging model of a new female heroine. She embarks on a journey of confrontation with this hidden and widespread overwhelming force against the...

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The Silence of the Lambs
1991
Director – Jonathan Demme
Writer – Thomas Harris
Cinematographer – Tak Fujimoto
Jodie Foster – Clarice Starling
Anthony Hopkins – Dr. Hannibal Lecter AKA Hannibal the Cannibal
Scott Glenn – Jack Crawford
Ted Levine – Jame Gumb AKA Buffalo Bill
Theme can be defined as “a central insight.” According to the authors of The Art of Watching Films, a theme in a literary work or film should be universal and should be one that challenges people (Boggs & Petric, 2008). The Silence of the Lambs shows that peoples’ search for peace is universal. We see characters from all walks of life searching for peace. There is Clarice Starling, an FBI agent in training, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist incarcerated for murder and cannibalism, and Jame Gumb, AKA Buffalo Bill, a man driven to murder by his sexual identity crises. Each of these characters, in their own ways, search for peace throughout the film. (Demme, 1991)
Clarice Starling, portrayed by Jodie Foster, is seen as the main character. She begins a sort of friendship with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, when she is assigned to question him on the Buffalo Bill murder case. The two have much in common because they are both ostracized by society and both are searching for peace. Dr. Lecter is imprisoned and shunned by society for committing acts of cannibalism. Clarice is shunned in her own...

...Sociology
11/7/12
Silence of the LambsSilence of the Lambs is a movie based on a novel written by Thomas Harris. It was release in 1991 and directed by Johnathan Demme. It is a suspense and horror film that portrays themes of murder, craziness, and traumatic experience. Many people watch this movie to see the psychotic killers and the intelligent police save the day. What people may not see are the social problems present in the movie.
This film stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling an agent in training at the FBI Academy. She is pulled out of her training to profile and interview a notorious criminal by the name of Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins. Lector is known for being a psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer (Demme). He is incarcerated in a state hospital in Baltimore under the supervision of Dr. Chilton, played by Anthony Heald, whom Lector despises. Starling is brought in to get information for a profile from Lector about a current criminal whose name is Buffalo Bill. Buffalo Bill is killing women and cutting off their skin in a disgusting series. Lector is a very intelligent being. He gets frustrated with Starling trying to take him apart psychologically. However, he gives her another chance when another inmates acts distastefully towards her. In exchange for a deal to be transferred away from Chilton’s care, he will give information about Buffalo Bill. He accepts the deal and is...

...Silence of the Lambs
In the book Silence of the Lambs (Harris, 1988) the whole plot is based around three main characters. Clarice Starling, a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee who is put into the position of trying to unravel the mind of an evil genius, Hannibal the cannibal Lecter, in order to find the answers needed to capture the serial killer, Jame Gumb, also known as Buffalo Bill. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist, is in a mental institute for his ferocious attacks. Hannibal is known as a monster by many who surround him. The final main character is James Gumb, also known as Buffalo Bill. Throughout the story he is committing horrible acts of murder and skinning of many females in pursuit of becoming a female himself. The psychological background is very strong in all of the characters, lending to their believability. The intrigue of Gumb with moths is particularly worth noting, since there is very little evidence of prior criminals being documented as having used this sort of post mortem decoration, yet the logic of the idea is impeccable. There is suspense and conflict throughout the story to keep the readers attention and to help show the relationships throughout the book.
Starling is the protagonist in the book, and the majority of the story line takes place from her point of view. She is driven by memories of her childhood, which is a recurring theme throughout the book....